People in tech are freaking out about Donald Trump being given control of the NSA

Donald Trump has been
voted president of America.Chip
Somodevilla/Getty

Last month, Wired published a story with the headline "Imagine
if Donald Trump controlled the NSA." Now there's no need to
imagine.

Trump overcame all odds on Wednesday when he became the 45th
president-elect of the United States. As a result, he's about to
gain control of the US intelligence agencies, including the NSA (National Security Agency).

Tech workers and security campaigners have been quick to express
concerns about handing control of the NSA to Trump.

The intelligence agency serves as a US spy centre that monitors,
collects, and processes information on people across the world.
It has made headlines over the last few years for its secretive
mass surveillance methods, which overstep the mark in the eyes of
many people.

Security consultant Dan Tentler wrote on Twitter: "Trump will
control the NSA. Think about that for a second. What the f*** did
you people do?"

Former CIA analyst Patrick Eddington questioned what the NSA will
do under Trump given that it warranted mass surveillance under
former president George Bush.

Frederike Kaltheuner, who works
in policy at campaign group Privacy International, wrote on
Twitter: "The NSA will now be run by a Trump government. This is
why we should never give a carte blanche to powerful
institutions."

If the CIA was willing to carry out torture and NSA warrantless surveillance under Bush, what will they do under Trump?

Chris Schofield, an academic at Royal Holloway university
focusing on geopolitics, highlighted on Twitter that Trump will also
have control of the CIA, FBI, aircraft carriers, Navy SEALS,
nuclear weapons, US diplomats, and the Senate.

Trump has promised national-security overhauls, including a
potential return to enhanced-interrogation techniques, increasing
bombing of ISIS, reevaluating the US relationship with Russian
President Vladimir Putin, loosening background checks for
purchasing firearms, and forcing Mexico to pay for a Southern
border wall.